(Flocks of thanks to Sean Sammon, bass player of the original Puddle of Mudd. Please continue to blow the minds of true Mudd fans everywhere with more classic performances of your band, man. That would be greatly appreciated.)

Puddle of Mudd were probably one of the most forgotten bands of the early 90's. Yeah, that's right; the 90'S. Thought their first effort was Come Clean? If so, you're freaking freezing.

Sure, any average listener would easily denounce Puddle of Mudd as Nirvana/Alice In Chains/Pearl Jam wanna-bes, but only because they WERE an actual grunge band.

Their first CD was called "Stuck", from 1993/4 (through MuddDog), followed by Abrasive c. 1997 (through HardKnocks).

By late 1999, the actual band broke up, and an eager Wes sold his soul to the music industry and launch a solo career in 2001 with his new "backing boy band" (no offense), who are still named Puddle of Mudd to this day.

For those of you who are quick to judge them based on their factory processed material that came out in 2001, I guarantee you that after your first listen of "Stuck", "Abrasive", or any early stuff you can find, you'll be drowning in guilt, sighing "Yep, they're grunge alright...."

To be fair, "Come Clean" and "Life on Display" were my introduction to Puddle of Mudd. Both albums have pretty damn good songs. I also play their most recent CD, "Famous" from time to time. Overall, I think that Puddle of Mudd are just a pretty solid band.

For those of you long-time fans who stuck with them since their Missouri Days, keep in mind that despite Wes's conversion to mainstream, his voice never changed.

Usually, most early "post-grunge" bands seem to emulate a particular band throughout the 90s, only to make their voice and style more "original" sounding later on. However, Wes's voice just stayed the same.

I would generally recommend Puddle of Mudd to all the grunge fans out there, and to anyone who just likes pure, bare bones rock and roll.